Creating A Shady Summer Retreat

Flower & Garden Magazine, August, 1999 by Jinny Ravenscroft Danzer

If you have ever longed for a shady spot to escape a hot summer's day, why not do something about it? Create a restful, cooling retreat. A fountain in a pool in a ferny alcove, a winding path beneath tall oaks, hostas grouped around a bench under a spreading magnolia -- shady places like these provide a refuge from heat and the demands of a busy schedule.

Whether you're working with existing shade or planting trees and shrubs to create future shade, you will need to come up with a plan, make a list of suitable plants for your type of shade and decide what type of feature you want as a focus: a path, pool, sculpture, bench, vine-covered archway or even a gazebo. Then you'll need to improve the soil (if necessary), install or place features, and plant.

Deciding what you want is the first step -- a woodland garden for wandering, a cool place to sit and read, or a shady nook where you can chat or eat with friends. Reading a wide variety of garden books and visiting both public and private gardens will give you ideas.

DETERMINING THE AMOUNT OF SHADE

If you already have a shaded area, you'll need to determine what type of shade you have before you can choose plants: full shade, light shade or half shade.

I define full shade as year-round or winter shade provided by evergreens, a high wall, the north side of a building or densely foliaged deciduous trees. Only a few perennials will tolerate dense shade -- and if it's also dry, fewer still will thrive. Early blooming wildflowers often work well, since they bloom before the trees leaf out and then die back. Few other plants will bloom well in full shade, so you might consider moving pots of annuals or perennials into such areas just for special occasions. An alternative is to remove lower branches to admit more light.

Light shade occurs under high-branching or lightly foliaged deciduous trees; in places where sunlight filters through leaves, with no more than an hour or two of total sunlight; in light, airy shade on the north side of a low wall; and in areas with distant shade from trees or buildings.

Half shade is created by either morning or afternoon sun, intermittent sunlight or half a day of sun on the east or west side of a wall, hedge or house. Factors to consider when choosing plants are the time of day the garden will be in the sun (afternoon sun is hotter), the average summer temperature and the amount of moisture available.

CREATING A PATH TO EXPLORE, A SCULPTURE TO CONTEMPLATE

Choosing a center or focal point for your summer retreat is the next step, whether you want something simple like a path or a bench by a favorite garden sculpture or you have visions of flowing water, a waterfall or a pond. With an existing stream you can build a footbridge or plant the banks. You can create a cascade on a hillside with a pump to return the water to the top.

CHOOSING YOUR PLANTS

Making a plant list can help you decide the size and shape of your garden. Read up on cultural and cultivational needs to be sure the plants you want will adapt to your climate, weather and amount of shade. Soil is also important -- to grow rhododendrons, for example, you will need an acid soil. You can have your soil tested at your local extension service or you can buy a kit from a nursery.

A well-chosen plant list includes blooms from early spring to late fall. Before adding a plant to your list, be sure it's hardy in your zone. Local nursery stock and plants in public gardens, parks and native woodlands will give you an idea of what thrives in your area. To see what a shrub or tree will look like in five or 10 years, look for a mature specimen.

PLANNING YOUR RETREAT

Sketching out your design is an important step whether you are starting from scratch or developing an existing area. Go from preliminary doodles to a more detailed or even a scale drawing, laying out paths and stairways in curving, natural lines. Also sketch in the focal points of your summer retreat -- ponds, fountains, benches, tables and chairs, footbridges, statuary, trees and other planting groups. If you need help getting started, pick up sample designs from a garden center, borrow some garden design books from the library or buy a computer software program.

To get literally down to earth, spray your design right onto the ground with a garden paint marker (inverted-tip aerosol marker). You can rub the lines out with your foot if they're not right. If you warn to try out a second design you can use a different color.

AMENDING THE SOIL

Now you are ready to plant, but your soil may not be. If you're starting with a new area, you may want to use a rototiller. Or, you could double-dig to the depth of two spades if you have the time and energy. To give plants a head start and produce vigorous growth, work in liberal amounts of humus. Although it may sound like overkill, 8 to 12 inches of leaf mold and 4 to 6 inches of well-rotted cow manure should produce spectacular results.

In an existing woodland, be careful not to change the soil level around trees or disturb their roots too much. Rather than digging up the whole area, you can amend the soil and plant in pockets between trees and shrubs.